California
Cal enjoys a good party, good music, bad jokes, and any opportunity to face off against the Insurrection. He does not take losing very well. Personality Cal is another easy-going agent. He is fairly laid-back and enjoys making sarcastic remarks and bad puns. He seems to like annoying more uptight Freelancers, commonly going out of his way to anger Carolina and Michigan. In the field he is able to focus on goals and carry them out with relative ease, all the while making wisecracks. Despite his good-natured charm, however, Cal is volatile when Insurrection leader Lieutenant Ian Harper is brought up. In Chapter 48: Inner Demons, Cal flies into a rage, challenging Ark to hand-to-hand combat and nearly killing the other agent. He adds that everything bad that ever happened to him was a result of Harper. If there is one thing he hates nearly as much as Harper and the Insurrection, it is losing. In Chapter 58: Listen Up, Kids, Cal is furious he lost to Alaska in a one on one training match. Relationships Minnesota Cal's roommate, Sota is a close friend of his. Early in their time in Project Freelancer, Cal walked into Sota practising on the training room floor. Initially, Sota was angry to be interrupted by Cal's presence. After a short hand-to-hand match started by Cal's goading, the two became close. Their friendship was threatened in Chapter 67: Truce. They got into a heated argument over the leaderboard, in the end, Sota punched Cal and stormed away. After they both had a chance to cool down the roommates apologized. Killian Jay The two men don't seem to be on good terms. Even though the Medic has patched Cal up on several occasions, Killian's way of talking down to his aggravating patients makes Cal angry. Arkansas Cal hasn't been impressed with Ark ever since he taunted Cal over Harper in Chapter 48: Hidden Demons. Ark's comments nearly got him killed, as Cal's rage over the Insurrectionist lieutenant was out of control. However, despite this, the two worked well enough together in Chapter 52: Protect the Base. Ark is shown to be worried for him after an Elite stabbed Cal in the stomach in Chapter 69: Close Encounters. The two also work together to take down a Hunter in the same chapter. However it's clear that Cal will never truly trust Ark, as it is mentioned in Chapter 89: Right Beside You, that Cal tenses up upon hearing Ark's voice, and later in Chapter 94: Impasse, Cal and Ark come to a stand-off in how to get information from the prisoners. Whereas Ark does not want anything to do with torture, Cal and South are in support of using whatever means necessary to get the information. Things come to a head in the chapter when both Ark and Cal threaten each other with their weapons, neither one wanting to back down. Just when Cal is about to shoot Ark, the other man backs down and agrees to allow Cal to get the information his way if the prisoners don't give up the information after five minutes. In the end, Ark ends up getting the information without the use of torture, as the prisoners are terrified of Cal. What really killed any chance of trust- and fully moved Ark into hated territory- for Cal, was the events that took place in Chapter 100: Fire on the MountainChapter 100: Fire on the Mountain, when Ark both tried to pry into Cal's past and negotiate with Harper at the same time. Both were inexcusable offences to Cal, and have firmly cemented Ark as an enemy, no matter if they are technically on the same side. Alaska Make no mistake, these two do not like each other. Even in Chapter 59: Splitting Up following their matchup in Chapter 57: Ass-Kicking 101 and Georgia's party that night, Cal is cold to the crimson agent who pointedly ignores him. Later in Splitting Up, Alaska makes several jibes in Cal's direction about being wet behind the ears. Carolina Whatever authority the boss woman carries, Cal is willing to drag his feet over her orders as often as he heeds them. In Chapter 61: Almost Compromised he follows her commands until Harper turns up unexpectedly, at which time he ignores her orders to leave and engages the Innie. Carolina is forced to drag Cal away from the fight and is slow to forget it. Michigan When the two agents first met, Cal was a little put out by her closed-off nature. He spent the entire time at their first lunch trying to make the other rookies laugh which was brought to an abrupt end when Mich nearly flipped the table and began screaming at him to shut up. Since then, Mich has worked well under his command in Chapter 52 and Chapter 55 simulation missions, insulted him when he left in Chapter 59 and been seen with Cal on many occasions. In Chapter 64: Hits and Misses Mich and Cal are pitted against Maine in a training match after the leaderboard is updated. She talks him down and, after winning the match, shows concern when Cal begins to cough up blood. Mich has become more lenient with his humour and often laughs at his jokes. During Chapter 74: View From the Top's pool time, Cal rescues Mich from a wave that sweeps her from her feet and plays as her base in the agent-wide Chicken game. Their relationship continues to grow from there, with Cal showing concern for Mich when Carolina designates her to lure Innies to her position in Chapter 82: Taking Back the City, and in Chapter 89: Right Beside you, the two share their first kiss together after sharing a bit about their previous combat experiences. Ian Harper Perhaps the relationship that influences Cal most, it is a well-known fact that Cal has major rage issues towards Lieutenant Harper, which is especially detailed in Chapter 48: Hidden Demons, where Harper is first mentioned. Cal's anger stems from his experiences with Harper in the past when Cal was in the Insurrection, which is hinted at by Harper in Chapter 100: Fire on the Mountain. Not only this, but Harper also enjoys toying with Cal's mind, and hinted at sexual desires for the agent in Fire on the Mountain. Cal has an equal measure of both fear and loathing due to Harper's past actions, but no one knows exactly what Harper did to make Cal so angry and broken. In each physical encounter with him, Cal has ignored orders to chase the insane Innie down, first in Chapter 60: Almost Compromised, and again in Chapter 99: Dogs of War. While it has been confirmed that Cal picked up most of his skills from Harper, he is still beaten by the Innie in Fire on the Mountain, where the rest of the team arrives to see Cal pinned beneath Harper. The largest amount of "growth" in the Cal/Harper puzzle occurred in Fire on the Mountain, when it brought to light Cal's previous allegiance as well as the one-sided sexual tension between the pair, originating from Harper. This is made clear when, while being restrained, Harper referred to Cal as "Jay" and proceeded to essentially caress Cal's hand with his mouth and tongue, which disturbed Cal greatly, though he tries to hide it behind his anger. Skills and Abilities Close Quarters Combat Knives or his bare hands, Cal is gifted in close quarters fighting and is arguably one of the most gifted with blades. He favours machetes as his weapons of choice but has twin SMGs as his primary firing arms in close quarters. Cal has shown an immense capacity for strategic fighting to complement his skills and can credit most of his expertise to Ian Harper's lessons, though Cal himself isn't proud of the fact. Regardless, Cal is at his most deadly when close to his enemies. Leadership Leading both his simulation mission teams, Cal may have lost but proved he was effective at organizing those under his command. Themes Humour Barely seen without offering a pun or wisecrack, Cal's sense of humour is more in York's vein than Wyoming's. He often is enough to make the entire room laugh, with the exception of few. Ian Harper Not much is known about the personal vendetta Cal seems to have against the Insurrectionist Lieutenant, only that it is fierce. While Harper doesn't seem ruffled by Cal, the Freelancer can't even hear his name without becoming enraged, even to the point of jeopardizing a mission to throw himself at the Innie. This is apparent in both Chapters Trivia *According to Cal's author, Cal is, in fact, claustrophobic after his encounter with Harper. *Shows signs of SPD (Split-Personality Disorder) when under high amounts of stress or when in the presence of Harper Category:Freelancer Category:Interrogators Category:Characters Category:CQC Specialist